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Manual of Armours
Introduction There are several armours which one may find while exploring an armourer's shop, or a smithy. I will detail these various armours, and include some details about each. Armours - Defensive Capabilities Leather armour is the weakest of the available armours, short of wearing partial suits of armour, or none at all. Following Leathers, Scale Armour is the next strongest armour which is readily available. Scale Armour provides nearly full-body coverage, but is not extremely durable. Going heavier than that would be the Breastplate, supplemented with Chain Mail to cover the wearer's legs, head, hands, and neck, as the Breastplate provides better coverage for the chest, back, and shoulders. The epitome of protection would be Plate Armours, which are also often supplemented with Chain Mail, as added protection. Plate Armour provides full body coverage, while the Chain Mail provides a flexible layer between the Warrior and the rigid Plate Armour. Often a coif (hood) would be worn, along with chuasses (leggings) and mitons (mittens). Plate Armour includes a cuirass (chest), pauldrons (shoulders), gauntlets (hands and forearm), greaves (leggings), and boots. It is not uncommon to simply wear leg plates and a helmet, using a large shield to cover the remainder of the warrior's body. Usually that style of armament is prevalent among cavalry, as the extra armour would be too much for the horse to bear while at charging speeds for any period of time. Leather Armour For a warrior seeking maximum mobility for all limbs, there are two leather-based armours which are commonly used. #Leather Armour - A layer of leather covering the flesh. This armour is almost exclusively used to deflect light, piercing objects such as arrows, knives, daggers, dirks, and spikes. Even then, it's minimal protection against those objects, because if hit from certain angles it will cut through, anyway. #Studded Leather Armour - Leather armour which is tailored to bear small metal studs and plates, allowing it to deflect heavier blows. It provides slightly better protection against piercing objects, but vastly improves the wearer's defense against slashing weapons. Leather Armour is the arguably the best armor to wear when facing off against a foe wielding a bludgeoning weapon such as a hammer or mace. The reason for this is that, while Plate Armour will take more of the blow, it is metal. Because of the way a bludgeoning weapon works, it is easy to dent metal armours due to their hard composition. These dents can hamper the movements of the warrior, or even begin injuring him, depending on the shape and depth of the damage. Leather Armour, on the other hand, is not metal, and may have small amounts of metal, at most. Because of the softness of leather, it won't dent. It merely springs back to its original position, or rips. This makes Leather Armour an arguably better armour for such situations. Scale Armour For a warrior favoring sturdier armour than leather, but still relatively light, Scale Armour is not a bad option; Constructed from reptilian or fish scales, or possibly metal or horn, the armour tends to be flexible enough to retain a fair bit of mobility, while allowing the wearer to deflect much heavier blows than leather would allow. Scale armour is effectively a hauberk, which covers the chest. It tends to hang low enough to protect the upper thighs, and possesses sleeves which guard the shoulders and arms. Due to the sleek construction of the armor, Scale Armour is highly effective against most slashing weapons, as well as many piercing weapons. The only real weakness in scale is that it is held together underneath by means of leather. Thus, if you can get a small blade under the scales, you can cut right through the armour. Besides undercutting the scales, Scale Armour has little to no defense against a bludgeoning weapon. The supple scales of the armour will either not matter, similar to stomping on a fish or iguana, or the metal scales will flatten or break. To avoid being decimated by a bludgeoning weapon due to the decreased mobility Scale Armour imposes on the wearer, it is common to wear a shield or buckler and use a single-handed weapon such as a Liuyedao. Plate Armour Plate Armour is the heaviest armour used, currently. Plate Armour is a complex system of large, heavy metal plates which are strapped onto the wearer. There are many pieces included in a full set of Plate Armour, including: *Full Helm - Angular helmet with a slatted, hinged visor. Full Coverage of head and neck *Pauldrons - Rounded plates placed upon the shoulders, which cover the biceps as well. *Cuirass - Angled breastplate. Full coverage of torso. *Gauntlets - "Gloves" used to cover the hands and forearms. Full coverage of hands and forearms. *Greaves - Angled plates worn over the thighs. Full coverage of the upper-leg. *Shin Guards - Angled plates worn over the shins. Full coverage of the lower-leg. *Boots - Angular boots. Full coverage of the feet and ankles. The only true weaknesses of Plate Armour are a lack of mobility, joints (inside of elbows, back of knees) because they consist of leather pads, and bludgeoning weapons. However, to compensate for the leather padding, as well as to gain additional protection, Chain Mail is often worn under the Plate Armour. It is common to see a warrior in Plate Armour wielding both two-handed weapons such as a Battleaxe or Warhammer, as well as wielding a single-handed weapon such as a Handaxe, Mace, or Liuyedao along with a shield or buckler. It is also not uncommon to see warriors wearing "Half-Plate," an incomplete set of Plate Armour supplemented with additional Chain Mail. This affords the warrior more flexibility, while retaining a majority of his protection. Shields There are many different shields. The style of different shields changes as different types of body protection are developed. *Kite shields - Rounded at the top of the shield and tapered at the bottom, providing body cover as chain mail was the only protection many years ago. *Heater Shields - The 'heater' shields, are often used by jousting warriors. These are smaller, as they complement full suits of armor and are better suited to horseback *The Buckler - The Buckler is a small round, metal shield which could be hung from a belt. This type of shield is often reserved for close quarters *The Pavise (Wall Shields) - The Pavise was the shield used by Crossbow men. This type of tall shield provided protection when reloading his crossbow